1
as in wreckage
the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed
found the wreck of the ship lying on the floor of the ocean
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
3
as in collision
the violent coming together of two bodies into destructive contact
a dangerous stretch of roadway that has been the scene of numerous car wrecks
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
2
as in to ruin
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
most of the furniture on the ground floor was wrecked by the floodwaters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of wreck
Adrienne Jordan, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Mixter is one of the few to have dived to the wreck.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
Storm preparations Cuba has been struck almost yearly by a major hurricane in recent years, sometimes twice, wrecking the country’s already decrepit infrastructure, damaging crops and destroying thousands of homes in precarious condition.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wreck
Noun
Shipwreck lovers need to pay a visit to the Butler Bay wrecks — a cluster of five ships in close proximity, including the Rosaomaira and Suffolk Maid.
—Adrienne Jordan, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Mixter is one of the few to have dived to the wreck.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
The Edmund Fitzgerald remains the largest of all the ships wrecked or sunk by bad weather in the Great Lakes.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
Storm preparations Cuba has been struck almost yearly by a major hurricane in recent years, sometimes twice, wrecking the country’s already decrepit infrastructure, damaging crops and destroying thousands of homes in precarious condition.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wreck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wreck
Noun
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The vehicle then caught fire, and Molina was pulled from the wreckage.—
Elissa Jorgensen,
Dallas Morning News,
6 Jan. 2026
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The League of Nations was the forerunner to the UN and is famous among historians for its formation after the wreckage of World War I and its almost immediate failure to prevent the rise of authoritarianism in the 1930s that gave way to World War II.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The coaches also decided King’s wrecking-ball approach was effective.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
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The addresses listed in the wrecking permits border the east of the truck plant where Ford makes its iconic Super Duty trucks, Expedition SUVs and luxury Lincoln Navigators.—
Olivia Evans,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Conversely, collision coverage helps when your own car is damaged in a crash, whereas medical coverage helps cover treatment costs following an accident.—
Ethan M. Stone,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
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Neither alcohol nor drugs were determined to be factors in the collision.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Incredibly, the event has only been scuttled twice in 120 years — first in 1915, when foot-and-mouth disease raged in the livestock community, and then again in 2021, due to COVID-19 restrictions.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
7 Jan. 2026
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In 2018, Trump himself helped scuttle bipartisan talks that might have produced immigration reform.—
Leonard Pitts Jr,
Miami Herald,
1 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And, from this week’s issue, Nicola Twilley’s reporting on another lingering effect of the wildfires—smoke taint that is ruining grapes and threatening California’s wine industry.—
Dana Goodyear,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
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This will either change your life or ruin you.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
10 Jan. 2026
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Rescuers retrieved eight people alive and were searching for the missing still trapped after a huge mound of garbage and debris collapsed on them in the village of Binaliw in Cebu city, police said.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Conversely, collision coverage helps when your own car is damaged in a crash, whereas medical coverage helps cover treatment costs following an accident.—
Ethan M. Stone,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
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The Colorado State Patrol said the crash happened near Tordal Way, south of Frisco.—
Christa Swanson,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In this film, the pups get shipwrecked on a mysterious dinosaur island.—
Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal,
Parents,
1 Jan. 2026
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The show, which ran for three seasons from 1964 to 1967, centered around seven castaways who have to survive after getting shipwrecked on an uncharted island.—
Daysia Tolentino,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wreck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wreck. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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